


Sophie

by TheDisneyOutsider



Series: Comfortember 2020 [12]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, POV Outsider, Precious Peter Parker, Sort Of, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, emotional support pet, guinea pigs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27532378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDisneyOutsider/pseuds/TheDisneyOutsider
Summary: It was an overcast day when Madison first met the boy who introduced himself as Peter Parker. Madison had been cleaning the fish tanks when the curly-haired boy came through the door, clearly upset, but offering her a weak smile as they made eye contact.“Good afternoon, welcome to Scouten Pets! Can I help you?” she asked cheerfully.“Um, I just came in to see the puppies actually,” the boy blushed.“That’s fine,” she smiled brightly, used to the request by customers, “People love to come hang out with them.”“Yeah,” the boy nodded shyly, “I was kind of having a bad day and...”“Say no more.”Comfortember, Day 12: Emotional Support Pet
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Comfortember 2020 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995802
Comments: 38
Kudos: 264
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Sophie

**Author's Note:**

> Day 12, and my little Sophie is a star!! Yes, I wrote my own pet into this one because how could I not, she is adorable!!! 🥰

Madison had been working at Scouten Pet Store for two years, and she was very pleased to say that she loved her job. Spending her days with creatures that gave such unconditional love gave her such a boost of happiness that even though she still had dreams of performing on Broadway someday, she couldn’t say that she was unhappy where her life was presently at.

The pet store had tons of lovable creatures that were up for adoption. Dogs, cats, fish, birds, and even a salamander named Mo. Madison loved them all for their own unique reasons, but the one animal that she seemed the most drawn to from the moment it had arrived almost six months ago was a little beige guinea pig named Sophie.

Sophie was a rescue, brought in from an abandoned litter found in an empty apartment after the tenants had moved out. She was the only one the landlord couldn’t re-home, and therefore she had ended up at Scouten’s doorstep, frightened and alone.

Madison had taken to Sophie right away, and though Sophie was timid and untrusting, she had warmed to Madison quickly after the young woman had pulled a wood splinter from Sophie’s tiny lips when she had first arrived.

She soon learned that despite her timid nature, Sophie was extremely lovable. That’s why Madison was so surprised that even after six months, the guinea pig still hadn’t found a home. People loved to come coo over her, attempt to pet her when given permission, but nobody paid attention to her much more than that. It broke Madison’s heart. If she herself had not lived in an apartment building that forbade pets, she would have adopted the sweet thing months ago, but instead, Sophie sat, alone.

It was an overcast day when Madison first met the boy who introduced himself as Peter Parker. Madison had been cleaning the fish tanks when the curly-haired boy came through the door, clearly upset, but offering her a weak smile as they made eye contact.

“Good afternoon, welcome to Scouten Pets! Can I help you?” she asked cheerfully.

“Um, I just came in to see the puppies actually,” the boy blushed.

“That’s fine,” she smiled brightly, used to the request by customers, “People love to come hang out with them.”

“Yeah,” the boy nodded shyly, “I was kind of having a bad day and...”

“Say no more,” Madison gave him a warm smile, “There’s nothing better to lift your spirits than those cute little faces, I should know, that’s why I took this job!”

She began to lead the boy back to the puppy kennel when he caught sight of Sophie lounging near the front of her cage.

“Aw, it’s adorable,” he stopped, smiling towards the guinea pig.

And much to Madison’s surprise, Sophie got up and came to the edge of the cage, lifting her head curiously instead of scurrying into her hut like she usually did when approached by nearly everyone.

“Wow, she must like you, Sophie is usually a scaredy-cat,” she explained.

“She’s so cute,” the boy smiled, the stress visibly washing away.

“You can pet her if you want,” Madison encouraged, and Peter held out his hand carefully.

The guinea pig stilled, but allowed the gentle stroke, melting into the affection after a moment.

“Wow, you’re a natural with her! I have to go finish the fish tanks, but if you want you can hang out for a while.”

Peter thanked her and accepted the offer, spending nearly forty-five minutes loving on the small animal. When he got up to leave, Madison told him he could come back anytime to play with Sophie.

For the next several weeks, Peter did just that. Whenever she saw the boy entering the store, Madison knew that it had been a bad day at school, a hard Spanish quiz, an issue with a bully, sometimes a rushed morning that turned the whole day sour. All these things Madison had learned about the boy as she had listened to him whisper to the non-judgmental animal in his lap.

She had gotten used to the teen hanging around the shop, and Sophie did too. It was like the little thing could tell when Peter was going to come, waiting expectantly near the door of her cage, and doing little ‘popcorns’ when she heard the familiar greeting.

She was so used to these sporadic visits that Madison barely looked up one Friday afternoon when she saw his familiar brown hair approaching. It was only when she noticed that he wasn’t alone this time that she became interested. Behind him, he dragged along an older man, his dad maybe, she had figured. She waited at the counter, eager to find out more about the kid she had become so well acquainted with.

Trying to not be too nosy, Madison busied herself with tidying the surrounding area, waiting until the door swung open and the little bell jingled to glance up, plastering a giant smile on her face. Then her mouth fell open. There in front of her was Peter Parker standing in front of the one and only Tony Stark.

“I—uh, good afternoon Peter,” she attempted her usual greeting, but her eyes were fixed on the billionaire.

“Hey Madison,” Peter gave a little wave, “This is my mentor, Tony.”

“Your mentor? But he’s Tony Stark!” she stated dumbly.

“Yep and Peter here is Stark Industries brightest intern teenybopper,” Mr. Stark joked, expertly dodging a swat from the younger boy.

“You’re—wow, you never mentioned,” she said, still gaping.

“Huh, I guess not,” he shrugged, “But anyway, Mr. Stark hasn’t been having a good day, and I told him I had the perfect way to make it better!” Peter smiled as if she and he were involved in some sort of inside joke.

“Sophie,” Madison stated with a smile.

“Yep!” Peter returned the smile with glee.

“Peter is absolutely right, Mr. Stark. Sophie has a one hundred percent success rate for turning a crappy day around.

“So I’ve been told,” he nodded, “Though I still haven’t been told what exactly a ‘Sophie’ is.”

“Over here, Tony!” Peter ordered, pulling the man’s arm toward the cage, and if on cue out popped Sophie, full of excitement.

“Isn’t she cute?” she overheard the boy ask as Madison hovered by the cash.

She glanced up to see Stark nod, reaching his hand out to stroke the soft fur as directed by the teen.

Sophie, seeming to sense that a friend of Peter’s was safe to trust, allowed the affection, and soon the two were sitting on the floor, Peter placing Sophie onto the man’s lap, unfazed by the thought of just how expensive the suit the man was wearing must have cost.

“Peter and Sophie have gotten to know each other pretty well the past few weeks,” Madison commented, approaching the pair.

“He has, has he?” The man raised an eyebrow at the kid. “It’s funny because it’s been just about that long since he has started mentioning to me _many_ times, just how great guinea pigs are as pets.”

Peter blushed, “Well, they are, aren’t they?”

Madison realized he had been directing the question at her, and she nodded quickly, “I mean, I don’t know much about other guinea pigs, but I do know that you won’t get a companion much better than Sophie.”

“I told Mr. Stark that if he adopted Sophie, she could keep him company when he’s all alone in his penthouse.”

“And I told Peter that I’m not lonely,” Tony gave the kid a pointed look.

“Mr. _Stark_ , emotional support pets are all the rage right now!” the teen expressed with a wide grin, “Plus, then when I have a bad day I could come see you to hold Sophie, it would be a two for one deal! More time with me and this cute adorable face in your life every day!” Peter held Sophie up to look Mr. Stark directly in the eyes.

Then, surprisingly, the man turned to Madison, “I think we all know I’m not getting out of here without adopting this little thing. What paperwork do I need to fill out?”

She watched as Peter’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree right before turning misty, all in the span of two seconds, and she smiled too.

“Come with me,” she directed, leaving Peter to cuddle with Sophie.

“That’s awfully nice of you to do for him,” she noted as she pulled out the necessary forms, “You must be really good to your employees.”

The man chuckled, “I suppose you could think of it as an office pet, that’s a thing, right?”

“It’s a thing,” Madison agreed, “Though people tend to go for fish in those circumstances.”

“Yeah, well... the kid deserves this. He works hard.”

Madison would spend a lot of time after this exchange wondering just what the relationship was between Peter Parker and Tony Stark. They had said intern, but the way the man interacted with him, if Madison hadn’t known any better she would have gone with her earlier guess and said father. Whatever the truth was, she was glad that Peter Parker had someone who cared about him.

As she boxed Sophie up and got everything they may need for bringing their new pet home, Madison got emotional. She was going to miss the little thing that had become such a bright light in her days. What Peter had called it, an emotional support pet, may have hit the nail on the head. Sophie had surely brought a lot of joy to her in the last several months. But, it was time for her to go to her forever home now. She deserved it, and somehow, Madison knew that she was going to be very loved with her new family.

[Sophie](https://obsessionoftheday.tumblr.com/post/634632090651148288/sophie)

**Author's Note:**

> If this worked correctly, I added a picture of my adorable little Sophie at the end. If it didn't work, well I guess you'll just need to imagine it. Also 'Scouten Pets' is named after my other two guinea pigs who are unfortunately no longer with us, Scout and Keven, so all my girls are little stars in this one 😊
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!! Drop Sophie a carrot--I mean comment down below 😂💗


End file.
